In bowling, an automatic scorer is the computerized scoring system introduced into bowling alleys in the 1970s and combined with mechanical pinsetters for detecting the pins bowled down. Automatic scorers took away the task of having to keep score manually by hand by using a specialized computer designed for the task of automatically keeping the tally. This also introduced new bowlers to the game that otherwise would not participate because of having to keep score themselves, which most don't understand the mathematical formula involved in bowler scoring.
History
Automatic equipment is considered a cornerstone of the modern bowling center. The traditional bowling center of the early twentieth-century was advanced in automation when the common pinsetter person that placed back the bowled down pins was replaced by a machine that would automatically place the pins back into their proper play positions. The automatic pinsetter mechanism that replaced the pin boy came out in the 1950s. A detection system was developed off the pinsetter mechanism in the 1960s that could tell which pins had been knocked down and that information could be transferred to a digital computer. The idea of having scoring done automatically by electronics was first conceived by Robert Reynolds, an electronics calculator expert. He worked with Brunswick technicians to develop it out. The concept came to realization in the later part of the 1960s when a specialized computer was designed for the purpose of automatic scorekeeping for the bowlers. This increased the popularity of the sport as it relieved the stress of knowing if the scoring was correct. The automatic scorer was first field tested at Village Lanes bowling center of Chicago in 1967. The scoring machine received approval for official use by the American Bowling Congress in August of that year. In November Brunswick Corporationannounced that they were accepting orders for the new digital computer that would cost at the time around $3,000 a lane installed. Bowling centers that installed these new automatic scoring devices in the 1970s charged a dime extra per line of scoring for the convenience. California was considered the best prospect for making the first sales since it was the only state where bowlers paid an individual for league scorekeeping.
Description
The purpose of the computerized scoring was to remove the errors that human scorers would enter in. It had the side benefit of speeding up the progress of the game and introducing new bowlers to the game. Scorekeeping for bowling is a complex formula and most people that bowl do not know the mathematical process involved in scoring correctly. While the Automatic Scorer computer was mathematically accurate, the detection system at the pinsetter mechanism sometimes reported the wrong number of pins knocked down. The Automatic Scorer digital computer could be corrected manually for this as well as handicap figures added and late arriving bowlers tallied. The automatic scoring is directly connected to the foul detection unit so that foul line violations are automatically scored. Each Automatic Scorer computer unit kept score for four lanes. It had two bowler identification panels serving two lanes each. The bowler pushed it into his named position when his turn came up so the computer knew who was bowling and score accordingly. After the bowler rolled the bowling ball down the lane and knocked down pins, the pinsetter detected which pins were down and relayed this information back to the computer for scoring. It was then printed on a scoresheet and projected overhead onto a large screen for all to see. Automatic scorers detect electronically a woodenbowling pin with an ionomer cladding. The outer layer of the pin in the neck area has a fluorescent coating. The reason for this is so that electronically it can be detected if still standing or it has been knocked down. This is done with an ultraviolet light detecting system. Many bowlers didn't trust automatic scorers when they were introduced in the 1970s. Many continued to keep score using the traditional method on paper score sheets to verify the accuracy of the automatic scorers. Today, however, automatic scorers are found in most modern bowling centers. It was first used in national official league gaming on October 10, 1967.
